Vacuum cleaner



Junelo, 1941. M, Dow 2,244,943

VACUUM CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1/ INVENTOR June 10, 1941.

D. M. Dw l VACUUM CLEANER 2 sheets-sheet va I llllllllllllll Il INVEN-roR ATrQRNEY Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT orifice "VACUUM CLEANER.

Dewey M. Dow, Toledo, Ohio, assigner to Air-Way Electric Appliance Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application July 27, 1936, Serial No. 92,712

5 Claims.

This invention relates to suctioncleaners of the type employing a revolving agitatorA equipped with brushing or beater elements or both, for operating upon a suspended section of carpet, and has as its object to decrease the beating noise which is necessarily produced by such a cleaner.

The modern tendency in vacuum cleaners is toward `more powerful cleansing ability. To achieve this it is necessary from a practical standpoint, to increase the power of beating. A certain amount of increased dirt-getting ability may be also obtained by increasing suction, but beating is the most essential factor, especially since the room for improvement lies in the ability to extract embedded dirt, the surface cleaning eiiiciency of most cleaners already being at a high stage of perfection.

This trend has emphasized the problem of quietness of operation. This problem is coped with in one-instance by double opposed helical arrangement of the beaters such that the beaters tend to ride against the carpet continuously. The type oi beater contemplated by the present invention, however, is one that strikes the carpet suddenly and all at once, giving a truer beating eiect and much greater dirtv loosening eiilciency per lineal unit oi beater length. The problem of noise is magniiied in dealing with such a beater and the present invention aims to minimize the noise without prejudice to this type oi beater design.

. Another element contributing 'to the magnification of the problem in connection with the present invention is the fact that it was considered essential in'increasing power, not to increase the weight of the machine, and in order to achieve this, certain parts, such as motor housing, fan housing, and part of the suction chamber, are made of stamped and drawn sheet metal.

The drumming sound occasioned by beating, is due partly to vibrations set up in the carpet directly by the beater blow, partly by the periodic striking of the carpet against the suction chamber, and partly by transmission of the jar back through the spindle and its bearings into the walls of the suction chamber and attached parts. .The latter phase is aggravated by the use of ball bearings, which in itself is highly desirable.

The present invention greatly decreases the noise by isolating the rotary agitator from metal to metal connection with the rest of the cleaner, thereby largely cutting of! the transmission of jar through the spindle to the suction chamber.

f pet vibration noise by providing a carpet engaging shoe or shoes adapted to bear the brunt of carpet impact against the suction mouth. and to dampen vibrations thereby produced. To this end, the shoes are cushion-mounted and isolated from metal to metal contact with the suction chamber walls.

Further objects will appear in tbe perusal of the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a vacuum cleaner embodying the invention,

` Fig. 2 is aninverted plan view of the floor tool thereof,

Fig. 3 is a cross section through the same taken on the line 3-3 oi Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through one end of the oor tool,

Fig. 5 is an endelevation of one of the carpet engaging shoes,

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of one of the agitator mounting cushions,

Fig. 7 is an inverted plan view oi a iioor tool embodying a modication of the invention,

Fig. 8 ls a transverse sectional view of the same taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, the agitator and its mounting being shown in elevation,

Fig. 10 is a detail longitudinal sectional view 0f one end of the floor tool.

Fig. 11 is a similar view of a nzodication of the invention,

Fig. 12 is a similar view of another modication of the invention,

Fig. 13 is a similar view of another modication of the invention,

Fig. 14 is a similar view of another modification of the invention, and

Pig. 15 is a sectional view l5-l5 of Fig. 11.

The type of vacuum cleaner in which the pres-r ent invention is embodied is disclosed more ln detail in my pending application, Serial Number 74,012, filed April 13, 1936, now Patent 2,168,899. In such a cleaner the i'loor tool includes a suction chamber A having an agitator chamber I0 protaken on the line otherside of the block, and an inverted U-shaped The invention further provides a carpet engaging shoe or shoes which bear the brunt or all of the impact of the carpet against the suction chamber mouth as the carpet is sucked back against the mouth after the passage of a beater. This slapping of the carpet against the suction chamber mouth which otherwise is amplied in the metal walls of the suction chamber, is largely dampened by the cushion mounting shoe or shoes.

Attention is called to the fact that the shoe or shoes are curved downwardly so as to give a sledrunner-riding eifect on the carpet and to more eiectively hold the carpet against being drawn too tightly into the suction chamber vat the end regions thereof.

The total ultimate result is provision of a cleaner having the desired features of improved power without increased weight, in combination with the desired quietness of operation, a result which at rst seemed very diiicult of accomplishment.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vacuum cleaner, a.v suction chamber, a

motor driven rotary agitator therein, means on' which said agitator is mountedfor rotation, said means .comprising shaft portions at the respective ends o1' the agitator, and vibration absorbing cushions secured to the respective endl walls of the suction chamber and comprising substantially rectangularlyA shaped flat blocks of rubber secured to the vertical end Walls of the chamber,

metal clip vulcanized in said recess and releasably receiving and supporting a corresponding shaft portion of said agitator.

3. In a vacuum cleanena suction chamber. a motor-'driven rotary agitator therein, means on which said agitator is mounted for rotation, said means comprising shaft portions at the respective ends of the agitator, and vibration absorbing cushions .secured to the respective end walls of the suction chamber, said cushions being said cushions each having a downwardly opening recess in which a corresponding shaft portion is releasably received and supportedvand a spring steel liner in each of said recesses and secured to said blocks.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, a suction chamber, a motor driven rotary agitator therein, means on which said agitator is mounted for rotation, said means comprising shaft portions at the respective ends of the agitator, vibration absorbing cushions secured to the respective end walls of the .suction chamber, each cushion comprising a at subystantially rectangular shaped block of rubber attached tothe vertical end wall of the chamber, a

metal plate vulcanized to one side vof said block and i forming the attachment to the suction chamber wall, a downwardly opening recess in the -its respective cushion and substantially rectangular blocks of rubber, said cushions each f having a downwardly opening 'recess lin which ,a corresponding shaft portion isl releasably received and supported, a spring steel liner in said recess the agitator at each end having a non-rotatable cap in which the'end of the agitator spindle revolves, said cap being in abutting contact with the adjoining face of liner in said recess.

4. In a vacuum. cleaner, a suction chamber, a motor driven rotary agitator therein, means on which said agitator is'mounted for rotation, vibration absorbing cushions interposed between said means and the respective ends of the suction chamber, and carpet engaging shoes also supported by said cushions,` said shoes lying adjacentbut out of contact with the respective end wallsof the suction chamber and defining the end limits of the suction mouth of said chamber,

and dening the end limits of the suction chamber mouth, said suction mouth adapted to receive and hold a portion of the carpet over which it is passing to be acted upon by the agitator.

'DEWEY M. Dow.`

with the spring steel 

